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Topic: Solid Fat (Read 4052 times)

Various scientific papers and professional references indicate that a small amount of solid fat, such as lard, shortening, or butter, enhances bread volume. The gain is at least 10%. The amount of fat usually recommended is 3% of flour. Sometimes a little more is recommended, especially for whole grain flour.

No scientific or professional source that I could find says that oil will work for the purpose of enhancing rise. In fact, melting solid fat before incorporation into the dough will diminish the effect of increasing volume. However, Laurel Robertson thinks larger amounts of oil enhance rise.

Iím not sure if the above technique is applicable to pizza. However, since I use whole wheat, rise is always an issue. My experiments with solid fat are incomplete. So far, it seems to work; but I miss the flavor of olive oil.

Since I do a lot of BBQ and make my own sausage, I had a lot of fat trimmings left over. As a result, I render the fat and make my own lard.Unlike what is in the store, when I can get it, is unhydrogenated lard.Whats left are the cracklings or as the say in Italy ciciolli. These can be used for incorporating into a bread, sprinkled on salads or gratins or eaten as is.The newest research completely reverses that lard is bad for you. It is salt free, less cholesterol than eggs, better than vegetable oil in that the fats are less harmful.Back to the question. I have been using it my pizza dough. I find that the same weight of lard substituted for the oil works fine. It is easier to roll out, I get a higher rise, no less browning or crispiness on the bottom of the crust. I'm satisfied with the results and so are the other eight or 10 peoplethat I make pizza for every week.

You mention freshly rendered lard, and now all I can think of is donuts. We really need that drool emoticon.

And, donuts always make me this of my favorite Simpson's quote - which is particularly relevent in this case.

"Oh, but these donuts were made the old fashioned way. The dough sweetened with Cuban sugar from pre-Batista plantations, and fried in the tallow of three different animals, two of which are now extinct."

Larger Mexican markets that make their own chicharron usually sell tubs of freshly rendered lard. Its deep porky flavor is the secret ingredient in many of my dishes. A tub of fresh lard and another of bacon grease are always in my refrigerator.

I am attaching a link to a scientific report by Bruinsma and Finney showing that a small amount of oil plus a surfactant equals the loaf volume increase of using shortening alone. The focus of the article is on certain uses of surfactants, which is not the purpose of my original post. However, the report also shows that 2% shortening alone raises final bread volume about 10% and that it takes three times as much oil for a similar volume increase. Unfortunately, olive oil was not tested. http://www.aaccnet.org/publications/cc/backissues/1984/Documents/Chem61_279.pdf

Among the indicated references is a report by Baker and Mize in 1942 entitled ďThe relation of fats to texture, crumb, and volume of bread.Ē There are many references to the Baker & Mize report on the internet, but I havenít been able to find the report itself. It seems to be the foundation for this area of research.

In a pizza, modest volume increases are hard to see without side-by-side comparisons. My experiments seem positive, but are incomplete. I wish I had a local source of leaf lard.

Charbo, heres a link to a seller of leaf lard: http://www.mountainfolk.com/dietrich.asp They are in PA, but ship all over the country. Alternatively, you could look up your local Amish or Mennonite communities, German butcher, or organic pig farm. I'm interested in seeing your experimental results of leaf lard / shortening vs. OO. 10% rise gain is a lot.

Charbo;The inclusion of fat into a dough formulation (up to a point) improves volume response through better gas retention and lubrication of the dough structure. You can read about this in S. Matz book or E.J. Pyler's Baking Science and Technology. When the fat content goes much above 6% of the flour weight it actually begins to reduce bread volume. More current research has shown that just adding oil or melted shortening to the dough can, under certain circumstances, lead to inconsistencies in the dough (we think this is where the impressing that the outside weather influences dough absorption properties), this is why we developed the delayed oil addition method of dough mixing. By this method the oil is not added until the flour has had an opportunity to hydrate, the oil is then added and the dough mixed in the normal manner. The reason for this is due to the fact that oil will soak into the flour thus reducing the amount of gluten that can be formed, resulting in variations in dough consistency. Since solid fats do cannot soak into the flour they can be added right up front with the other ingredients. In a nutshell, that's the story of oil and solid fat in a dough system.Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Doc, thank you for a very clear and concise explanation. I'm altering my next dough procedure. I can't wait to see what difference using: 1. bacon fat, mixed straight in at initial ingredient incorporation2. OO, added after initial mix, before bowl mix makes.

In a home setting using my basic KitchenAid stand mixer with a C-hook, I found that I can use the delayed oil method if the amount of oil is small, say, a few percent. However, if it gets to around 4% or more, I have trouble incorporating the oil using the delayed method. I have to physically remove the dough ball from the mixer bowl and incorporate the oil by hand. That is a very messy job. I can then put the dough ball back into the mixer bowl to complete the knead. A food processor is more likely to do a better job with the delayed oil method.

When using a lot of oil, as has been the case with many of my Papa John's clone doughs, which call for about 7% oil, I simply mix the oil in with the water, to avoid the problem mentioned above.